Recently, in the town of Skegness in England, there was uproar when Italian ‘premium’ beer brand Peroni was accused of snobbery for not allowing its product to be sold in a hotel in the town. The hotel’s manager claimed consultants working on behalf of the brand stated the town didn’t ‘fit the brand’, and implied there was a snobbery issue at heart.
This isn’t the first time that a brand has been accused of trying to dictate who its audience should be. An executive for Cristal champagne hinted that he did not approve of this endorsement of its premium product after it was embraced by Jay-Z and a number of other rappers. This resulted in the champagne being boycotted by the rapper, and no doubt many of his fans. Continue reading